


The Puzzle Ring

by whichstiel



Series: Season 14 Codas [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s14e09 The Spear, First Kiss, M/M, The Spear, episode coda, puzzle rings, sort of proposals, spn 14x09
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 07:19:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16990515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstiel/pseuds/whichstiel
Summary: Dean and Cas share Jack’s cereal n the wee stretches of the morning. Dean steals Jack’s puzzle ring and...Castiel’s heart, I guess :)





	The Puzzle Ring

Light spilled from the bunker’s kitchen like a net catching against the opposite wall. Castiel walked quietly down the small stretch of hallway, curious to see who was awake at this rough time of the morning. The bunker was quieter these days, with most of the other hunters permanently on the road, or building new lives for themselves in places with windows that allowed in sunshine. Unless another hunter had arrived while Castiel had been rummaging in Storeroom Q, he would find a Winchester or Jack occupying the table. 

Cellophane sounds rattled the silence, and Castiel ducked into the kitchen to find an amusing sight. Dean sat at the table, robe loosely tied and socked feet splayed across the floor in a relaxed sprawl. He froze like a headlight-struck deer when Castiel entered the kitchen, one hand clutching a box of Crunch Cookie Crunch and the other buried inside it. Dean’s cheek bulged and his lips parted comically. “Uh,” he said around the cereal in his mouth. “This isn’t what it looks like?”

Castiel pretended to frown in thought, fighting the urge to smile. “So you’re not eating the cereal you bought for Jack yesterday?”

Dean swallowed noisily, tipping the cereal box away and drawing back his hand. “Nah,” he said, brushing crumbs from his palm onto his pants. He gulped and set the box back on the table, leaning his elbow against it in a laughable portrayal of nonchalance. As Castiel watched, he played it up, grin spreading as the silence between them stretched. “You should try some,” Dean said finally. He winked. “It’s good.”

Castiel peered at the colorful box on the table, then crossed the room and slid into a seat beside Dean. He picked up the cereal box. “Does this really taste like cookies?” he asked, plucking one from the box and nibbling it contemplatively. The cereal was sweet, with a dry undertaste of flour and chocolate flavoring that betrayed its laboratory origins. 

“Close enough,” Dean said, pulling out a small handful for himself and popping them into his mouth one at a time. He relaxed, leaning on his elbows. “So,” he said at long length, “what are you up to tonight? Or...this morning?”

Castiel bit a piece of cereal in half, chewed it, and swallowed before answering. “I was examining our store of spell ingredients against the _Essential Book of Magick’s_ suggested supply list. According to Wick’s account, we should be keeping at least fifty frog eyes on hand.”

“Frog eyes, huh?” Dean frowned at the faux chocolate chips on the cereal piece before popping it into his mouth. “How many do we got?”

“Twenty seven. There’s that magic supply and tea house just over the border in Colorado. I was thinking about driving out there. Picking some up.”

“Mmm,” Dean hummed. “I’ll ask Sammy about it. I bet there’s a hunter out in the mountains somewhere who can swing by and bring some back. Hell, doesn’t he have everyone GPS tracked these days? Anyway, we got ourselves a Michael hunt any day now.”

Castiel nodded, acceding the point. “I suppose you’re right.”

Dean slapped the table and pushed the cereal box closer to Castiel. As he slid the box, his arm pressed against Castiel’s shoulder. He stayed there, warm and close. “Go on. Eat.”

Castiel ate. 

“You know there’s a prize in here?” Dean had swiveled the box around to the cartoon treasure map on the back. “A friggin’ secret decoder ring. I didn’t even know they had these in kids’ cereal anymore.” His smile was soft and Castiel found himself propping his chin up with a fist so that he could lean to the side and enjoy the sight. 

“Anymore? Did you once get cereal with prizes?” It was hard to imagine Dean as a young boy. Sometimes it felt as though he’d been created during their first meeting in Hell and anything before that belonged to a different life altogether. 

“Yeah! Well, when I did the shopping.” Dean squinted, his look far away. “Which was most of the time. They used to have cars and stickers and little, you know, army dudes. It was awesome.”

“Did you end up with many of these?”

“Nah, Sammy always got the prize.” Dean’s shrug was graceful and practiced. “I didn’t need ‘em.”

“Need is not the same thing as want.” Castiel winced as the words left him, and fought to steady his pulse as Dean turned a slow, considering look on him as though he could see every thought in his head. 

“Yeah,” Dean said after a long pause. “Guess you’re right.” 

Castiel cleared his throat and sought to skate away from the precipice he’d accidentally tripped onto. “You could have this one.”

Dean laughed. “Have this what?”

“This prize. This, uh, secret decoder ring?” Castiel tapped the cartoon aardvark, dressed in a Sherlock Holmes inspired cap and cloak. 

Dean shook his head, a grin on his face. “Nah. I don’t-- Well, I guess I could just take a look.” With a mischievous glance at Castiel, he picked up the box again and plunged his hand inside, rummaging as he’d been doing before Castiel entered the kitchen. “They’re always at the bottom,” he explained. “I made Sammy open the boxes from the top and wait until he ate the cereal, ‘cause I’m an asshole. It’s more fun that way, too.” 

“The thrill of the chase?”

“Something like that.” Dean’s eyes lit with triumph and he pulled out a cereal-dusted plastic packet. “Fuck yeah,” he purred and set about ripping open the wrapper. He pulled out a yellow plastic circle with little holes cut into the outside. Reverently, he held it up to Castiel. “Awesome,” he breathed.

Castiel examined the ring with all the gravity for which the occasion demanded. Each punched out circle showcased numbers and letters in the inner spaces. “Is that a cypher?” he asked.

Dean nodded and swiveled the cereal box to display the code written across the bottom of the cartoon map with a line drawn above each coded symbol. “You use this ring to solve it.”

“A mystery,” Castiel breathed, feeling unaccountably fond of the entire three a.m. conversation. “I enjoy mysteries.” He settled close to Dean and watched him unravel the clue on the box, twirl by twirl. Dean’s fingers were nimble, his eyes bright, and he had a smile on his face that was casually sweet, rather than his usual pinched and worried look or affected ease. Castiel wished, not for the first time, that he could properly harness time. If he could, he would stretch this moment to its limits, pulling it out as long as summer taffy. He did enjoy mysteries, but none more endearing and endlessly fascinating than the one sitting beside him at the table, waxing enthusiastically over a child’s toy. “You should keep it,” he said finally, impulsively. 

“What?” Dean asked as he happily swiveled the inner circle of the ring. 

“The ring. You should keep it. We’ll get Jack another box. He can have the next one?”

Unaccountably, Dean flushed red to the tips of his ears. “You giving me a ring, Cas?”

“It’s not mine to give,” Castiel said, feeling like he was missing something terribly important. “But yes, I suppose I am.”

Dean smiled his soft smile again and palmed the ring, sliding it into the pocket of his robe. “Well, thanks,” he said. Slowly, he reached for Castiel’s hand and opened wide his palm. Dean held his hand there for a moment and Castiel stayed very still. He traced the lines of Castiel’s palm, spider light with his fingertips and delicately drew a line along the base of his fourth finger. Finally, Dean closed his hand gently and patted Castiel’s closed fist. He laid Castiel’s wrist on the table, yawned hugely, then rested his forehead on Castiel’s shoulder. His groan vibrated through Castiel’s bones. “I should probably try to get some more sleep,” he said, voice half muffled against Castiel’s coat. 

“I suppose so,” Castiel conceded, tamping down on the sudden upswelling of disappointment. He let Dean drag himself away and shuffle up from the table. Dean closed the box of cereal and placed it back on the shelf near the refrigerator. Then he turned towards Castiel, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “You coming?” he said finally. Dean crossed the room and held out his hand to Castiel.

Castiel took Dean’s hand, his mind a wash of static surprise. “Of course,” he said, and found his mouth was suddenly dry, the cereal clinging to his tongue unpleasantly. 

“Good,” Dean pulled Castiel up from the bar stool and around the edge of the table. He marched them down the hallway like they were men on a mission, tugging at Castiel’s hand to pull him along. 

“Do you need me for something?” Castiel asked around the astonishment trying to claw its way out of his throat.

Dean stopped his full-steam barrel down the hallway and turned his chin just enough to catch Castiel’s eye. “I want you for something,” he said, his tone oddly choked. “I want... _you_.”

“Oh,” Castiel said, as reality flooded around him. “ _Oh_ ,” he said, as Dean continued pulling him towards his bedroom. “Oh,” he whispered, as Dean closed the door behind them, and then backed him up against the cold wood, with fire in his eyes and lips parted softly. 

Much later, as Dean’s clock flicked over to 7 a.m. and Dean snored gently against his side, Castiel looked at the disarray of clothes on the floor. Dean’s robe lay where he dropped it, a shapeless gray puddle. The little yellow decoder ring had spilled out of the pocket and it lay inches away from the robe, cheerfully bright in the dim room. Remembering the quiet moment in the kitchen, Castiel traced the lines of his own palm, the base of his fourth finger. “Oh,” he breathed at last, understanding sliding into place like a hot brick. Castiel looked down at Dean - at his sleep-lax limbs and tousled hair. Then Castiel grinned, and his heart beat in his chest like a wild bird. “Oh, I do want.” He pulled Dean close and held him as somewhere above the dark reaches of the bunker, the sun flooded the sky. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Find me on Tumblr and Twitter @whichstiel


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